The National, Wake Owl, Pony Girl, Lee Fields, High Waters at Ottawa Folk Fest

Photographs by Ming Wu. 

The National headlined a rather musically packed day of both international and local artists.

Ottawa natives such as High Waters and Pony Girl were given a place to showcase their music. As we said in the previous article, we feel this festival is doing a great job at blending and mixing Canada’s brilliant music scene with the rest of the world. The members of High Waters actually all met at the University of Ottawa so seeing them perform at one of the biggest festivals in the province must have been a really big deal for them. Pony Girl is a new and upcoming band worth checking out. There is a sincere and natural dream pop atmosphere from them.

Lee Fields and the Expressions hails from North Carolina and is a legend in his own right with a career spanning 40 plus years.  Vancouver grown Wake Owl brought more of an indie pop  feel to the festival and were well received by the crowd.

Closing off the day was Brooklyn rockers The National. While they were a little slow to get into the mood, after a few songs Matt Berninger was able to pull together and deliver their signature sound with ease. They drew in a sea of indie and hipster kids, which isn’t a bad thing at all. This is who the festival is geared towards to begin with and when you get the right band with the right audience in the same park, magical things happen.